"It's a dream. It's got to be a dream."
"Kana-chan!"
"I'm dreaming. I feel like I'm living the sweetest dream in the world,
and nothing can spoil it"
"Kana-chan!"
"...and nothing can spoil it..."
"Kana-chan!! Good morning sleepy head!!"
"...and nothing can spoil it...and nothing can spoil it...AND NOTHING
CAN SPOIL IT!!" Chidori screamed. "EXCEPT THOSE WHO COME AND
SPOIL IT!!" Kyouku half-fell over from shock. She was used to her
friend being in a lousy mood in the morning, usually from lack of sleep
or something bad on her mind, but this morning, well...
"K-Kana-chan, are you all right?" Kyouko said carefully, aware of the
simmering volcano raging before her.
"Oh I'm fine, just fine." Chidori said, resuming her walking. Kyouko
caught the between-the-lines on that one.
"Uh-huh. Get a good night of sleep last night?"
"Yes."
"No bad nightmares?"
"Nope."
"Wierd scientists didn't come and kidnap you for their experiments?"
"Didn't even try."
"Sagara not write again?" THAT got Chidori's attention, and froze her in
her tracks. "Or maybe he talked about nothing except how his work was
all classified?" Bang! "Or how he's now married to another girl, and they
have three darling children?" Bash! "Or maybe he's dumped you
entirely?" Clobber! And with that, the final pot fell on her ead. "Kyouko,
girlfriend, are you trying to piss me off?" Chidori forced out as evenly as
she could between gritted teeth.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't dream of something like that, Chidori, girlfriend. It's
just that something seems to be on your mind." Kyouko slyly grinned.
Gawd, will she get the hint? She tried a new tact. "I've been your
best friend since you started at Jindai, I know you better than anyone
here, so if you're going to lie to me, you're going to have to learn to lie
better than that."
"I'm NOT lying... about anything. I'm just... I'm just..." Chidori was
suddenly lost for words. She sighed as she dusted herself off and
continued walking. Kyouko followed behind.
"You just had Sagara on your mind, didn't you."
"Not until you mentioned him."
"You're lying again, Kana-chan. And speaking of lies, you're going to
have to think of a better one for Kagurazaka-sensei."
"Huh? Why's that?"
"Because you're late, and today's the Prefectural-level Classical
Literature Exam."
"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER!!" Chidori screamed, as
she grabbed Kyouko by the arm and ran off to class.
Kyouko sighed as she thought to herself, "Because you were too busy
being in love."
* * *
They called it "mufti," civilian dress especially worn by a person who
normally wears a military uniform. Easy enough for someone to master
if they came from civilian life originally, but in Sagara Souske's case, that
was definately not the case. If the clothing was even remotely useful in
military operations he had no problems with it, but if it wasn't, it simply
baffled him. Unfortuately, that was all that was packed in his kit. He felt
absolutely ridiculous.
The situation that put him here didn't help.
// Three Weeks Ago
"Sgt Souske, reporting as ordered, sir."
"At ease, please, Seargent." Major Kalinin said in his deep base-like
voice, intoned with a thick Russian accent. "I presume you are ready for
your quarterly evaluation?"
"Yes, sir."
"Seargent, there is one thing I want you to understand before we
begin. Nothing said here will be repeated outside these walls."
Sagara immediately stiffened. He was used to the military's mania for
secrecy when needed, but something didn't quite seem right. "Yes,
Major, nothing of this meeting shall be repeated outside these walls."
"Good, and if anyone asks, we discussed nothing more than your
evaluation, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
Major Kalinin took a deep breath before he started. "Seargent, Mithril
faces a serious threat right now, from within and without." Sagara
immediately tensed; in the military, any threat, either internal or external,
could spell disaster. "During the brief time that Gaulun had control of the
Daanan, certain... revelations were made. Are you aware of this?"
"No sir, I was with Kurtz..."
"Yes, I am aware of that Seargent, I simply needed you to confirm that,"
Kalinin interrupted, cutting him off midsentence. "In any case, the fallout
of our last encounter with Gaulun has had repercussions. First of all, the
revelation that Gaulun had spies within our organaization has had Internal
Affairs and Counter-Intel quite busy lately. Second of all, Mithril has been
under a great deal of pressure from our main sponsors."
"To make a long story short, Seargent, pressure has been on Mithril for
some time now to 'clean house,' as it were. Find out who was working for
Gaulun and his associates, either willingly or unwillingly, and more
importantly, find out how deep they've penetrated."
"Sir, I am at your disposal in any capacity you may require me for this
task," Sagara immediately responded.
"Very well, I want you to take a vacation, Seargent."
"Sir?!"
Kalinin paused a moment to let the concept sink in, then continued
onwards in a gentle paternalistic tone. "Souske, there's enough trouble
going around that I don't want you getting caught in the middle. As I
said, I needed to confirm whether you knew anything relevant to the
inquiry. You obviously did not. Therefore, I want you to get as far away
from here as possible. You have quite a bit of vacation time stored up,
and I understand you haven't seen Ms Kaname since your assignment to
her ended. Why not take advantage of this situation?"
Seargent Sagara Souske, normally a very controlled person, suddenly
found himself in a very uncomfortable situation. He never remembered a
time when he was more unconfortable in his life. Well, perhaps that
time... His mind still struggled to comprehend what was going on. Mithril
was under threat, and he was being asked to simply ignore the threat and
walk away. It went against every fibre in his being; comrades were
comrades, and when they were in trouble, you did not just walk away.
But then again, his superior officer was ordering him to, and you never
went against an order unless the order was in some way illegal. And he
was aware that Major Kalinin had given him this directive AS an order.
"Very well, sir. I will... take a vacation." Sagara struggled to get the last
word out evenly. "But may I ask the Major to explain to me further what
circumstances have forced this."
"I cannot go into details, Seargent. Simply that Mithril is in the process of
being taken apart piece by piece, both by IA and an independent outside
agency, in the interests of a non-biased investigation. It has, to say the
least, caused a great deal of friction. I have retained some discretion in
deciding what does and does not need to be investigated on the Daanan,
but I'm afraid not much will be left untouched after they have gone
through here with their investigation. I'm sorry, Souske."
"And the Captain?"
"I'm afraid that one is out of my hands. Dismissed, Seargent," Kalinin
flatly stated, ending any further discussion on the matter.
//
Sagara scowled, unsure what annoyed him more, that his comrades
were to be put under a fine tooth comb very soon, or that in preparing
for his 'vacation,' he had not been allowed any say in what he could
bring. He frowned as he quickly re-inventoried what was packed in his
kit. Several changes of clothing, enough to last two weeks (none of
them decent enough if he found himself in a night-combat situation),
some reading material (at least some of it interesting, contrary to
the 'girlie stuff' Kurtz had seriously suggested and lovingly speculated on
while he was preparing to leave the Daanan), toiletries (none of it field-
rated), a medkit, an emergency pack, and a laptop with encrypted
satellite modem for covert contact with the Daanan, if the need arose.
"Not even a sidearm. A person is so defenseless here, I feel safer
walking around the streets of Lebanon with a "Shoot Me" sign hanging on
my back." Grumbling to himself, he sat down to familiarize himself with
his surroundings. Situational Awareness, he thought to himself. "Room, 4
meters by 3 meters, one door leading to hallway, another to the
bathroom. Bathroom has a window, but of insufficient size for a person to
crawl out through without incurring glass-shard injuries. Hallway narrow,
about 1.5 meters in width, leads to one elevator and one set of stairs, a
definite firefight hazard."
He walked over to the window and tapped the glass. "Civillian-grade
plate window glass, insufficent to stop any projectile weapons fired at
ranges 4 meters and over. Numerous civillian dwellings over 3 stories
high within sniper range, that will make things difficult. Busy street and
pedestrian traffic below will make it easy to disappear if necessary for
evasion, but the possibility of civillian casualties is extremely high."
Sagara silently wished he could meet the person that designed THIS
nightmare and sit him through a class of Civillian Obstacles that are NOT
your Friend 101. At least the last place he and his teammates had lived in
last time they were in Japan had had a better layout than this, almost.
"Work. Must get back to work," he thought to himself. But what work
was there to do? He was, after all, on vacation. "I have... nothing to do."
Now there was another first for him, and he took it the way he took
everything else that was a new experience to him, with complete and
utter befuddlement.
* * *
At the same time, Kaname Chidori was experiencing something the
complete opposite of Souske Sagara. "Ms Kaname, the role of class
representative is to be a role-MODEL for the class to follow. Showing up
late for an important exam, then attempting to slip in after the exam has
started is NOT model behavior."
"Yes, Madam, but..."
"No BUTS!! You were late, and that is the end of the discussion, are we
clear on that?"
With that, Chidori was shown the door; Kyouko was waiting for her
outside. "So, how'd it go, Kana-chan?"
"I got my head handed to me on a platter." Which was as delicate as she
could put it, considering the reaming she had gotten in the last half hour
from the Prefectural Examiner. Kagurazaka-sensei had been no gentler
on her when she and Kyouko had shown up nearly 40 minutes after the
exam doors had closed; the difference was that she knew Kagurazaka-
sensei understood in part, Chidori was one of her prized students. "Well,
my entire day is blown. Not to mention this last year. All that studying
for nothing!!"
"Are you forgetting someone here, Kana-chan?"
"Huh? Oh... yeah." In a sign of solidarity, Chidori grabbed her best
friend's arm and started walking towards the door. "C'mon, I'll buy you
lunch, my treat!"
"But we were supposed to meet everyone afterwards, remember?"
"Screw it! Our lives are wrecked, let's drown ourselves in comfort!"
Chidori's own false bravado may have had her own self convinced.
Kyouko wasn't, but her friend was buying, and she figured it might give
them both a few hours to talk before everyone else got the news that
Sagara-kun was back in town, and Chidori was no longer going to be
herself.
Kyouko expected the news would turn Jindai High upside down... again.
"Ahh! Bright sun, warm day! What more can a girl ask for!"
"Uh-huh," was all Kyouko could mumble in agreement. Both were too
lost in their own troubles to notice a dark figure watching from the
shadows. "You're mine, my sweet," its lips said.
* * *
Author's Notes:
As promised, 2nd part posted, WITHIN 48 HOURS. Mostly focusing on plot
development/moving the story along. I must admit I took a great deal
of pleasure in writing out the discussion between Souske & Kalinin.
Though the anime doesn't state specifically, we know Kalinin has known
Souske at least 8 years all the way back to Afghanistan. Though they
play the superior officer/subordinate, somethings been niggling me that
their relationship's deeper than that.
Also had quite a bit of fun with the "Mithril Scandal" *as I'm calling it
for now* When you think about it, top secret organization gets penetrated
THAT badly, you cannot figure no heads are going to roll over a security
breach like that.
Chapter #3 is COMPLETELY broken right now... don't even ask when
it'll get it posted. I do stand by my promise it'll just be military stuff,
nothing else. Working on a bit of BlackTech into the story, and explaining
what the heck the Daanan is doing down in the South China Sea... and
what's that friggin' shadow following her *turns on the light* Oh, it's
gone...
And for non-military otaku types, I do promise to include an index/translation guide, so you don't get lost
Regards